Desenvolvimento de emulsão contendo óleo de abacate como adjuvante no tratamento das alterações epiteliais de pacientes oncológicos.

Abstract

Cancer is considered a disease of great importance for public health due to its high incidence, prevalence, mortality, hospital expenses and consequences for the patients. It is the leading cause of death worldwide, surpassing cardiovascular diseases and with growth prospects in the next twenty years. Due to the great complexity involved in the treatment of cancer, this disease is already considered a chronic condition that requires months or even years of treatment with complex and toxic therapies. In addition to the obvious benefits in fighting cancer, treatment tends to cause severe adverse effects that lead to compromised self-esteem and functional loss of the patient. The skin is the first tissue to manifest adverse effects caused by cancer treatments, affecting approximately 95% of the patients being treated. Skin changes include dehydration, desquamation, fissures, redness and, occasionally, bleeding. Avocado oil (Persea americana Miller) is widely used by the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries because it has an unsaponifiable fraction responsible for regenerative properties of the epidermis. In this work two O/W emulsions were developed with different concentrations of avocado oil (10% and 15%), among other ingredients, focused on the skin of cancer patients. The formulations were stable under the conditions of the preliminary stability test, with no changes in their organoleptic and pH characteristics. In the microbiological analysis the applied formulations were kept within the specifications, according to the values allowed for total aerobic bacteria count and total yeast and mold counts. The evaluation of the sensory analysis questionnaires showed that, given the sensory attributes evaluated (stickiness, oiliness, spreadability, film formation and preference), the 10% avocado oil formulation obtained the best acceptance of oncological volunteers while the 15% avocado oil emulsion was the preferred one for healthy volunteers.